Daily NK has acquired the full text of the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone Act, which was adopted in the 35th plenary session of the 14th Standing Committee of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly in May.
An analysis of the legal text found that North Korea is promoting foreign investment by liberalizing the movement of foreign currency and setting up preferential duties. At the same time, the regime has entrusted all authority over the zone to a separate “management office” and instituted provisions about public safety and communications to create legal grounds for managing both North Korean citizens and foreign nationals.
Article 2 of the law states that the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone includes the Kalma Peninsula, as well as designated areas of the surrounding waters and some of the nearby islands.
The law defines the zone as “a central part of the international tourist area around Wonsan and Mount Kumgang and a coastal tourism-oriented special economic district possessing excellent conditions for tourism and providing preferential conditions for economic activity.”
The law explicitly provides incentives for foreign capital including “exclusive business rights for companies” (Article 56), “free movement of foreign currency” (Article 71) and “preferential duties” (Article 74).
At the same time, the law weaves an intricate web of control.
Sophisticated control mechanisms
The law concentrates all authority in a single office called the “management office of the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone” (Articles 7 and 8) that is fully responsible for issuing business licenses, setting prices, assessing taxes, organizing inspections and punishing infractions.
In addition to that, law enforcement bodies are charged with controlling the movement of foreigners and locals (Article 13), and the communications monitoring authority is supposed to monitor and regulate all communications (Article 14).
The text suggests that while North Korea is eager to attract foreign capital through the special tourist zone, it is also intent on precluding anything that could undermine loyalty to the regime, such as the influx of information or interaction between North Koreans and foreigners.
“Here we see that controls and regulations have grown more sophisticated compared to other laws about special zones. The provisions about public safety and communications codify mechanisms of control, showing that North Korea is wary about foreign information entering the country,” remarked Hwang Hyun-uk, senior researcher at Daily NK’s AND Center.
An analysis of the act finds that controls have been ramped up compared to the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Zone Act.
The Mount Kumgang act included a provision allowing the “free use of means of communication such as the postal service, telephones, fax lines and the Internet” (Article 17) and did not codify any intervention by law enforcement.
In addition, the Wonsan-Kalma act goes into considerable detail not only about tourists’ rights, but also about their responsibilities, suggesting that rights are overshadowed by state controls. In other words, North Korea is ostensibly emulating international tourism standards while actually emphasizing stricter controls on tourists.
For example, Article 53 lists 12 principles that tourists must follow during their stay in the tourist zone. Tourists are required to follow rules governing the use of communications devices and are prohibited from undermining national security, public order, public morality and local customs; from leaving the designated tourist area; from damaging buildings, facilities and equipment; and from prying into state or military secrets.
“The enactment of this law is expected to have a twofold impact on North Korea’s tourist industry and foreign visits. The law’s stipulation of tourists’ rights and business operating procedures seems designed at providing international investors and foreign tourists with a degree of legal stability,” said Hwang, the researcher.
“But the centralization of control at the management office and regulations on public safety and communications are likely to function as mechanisms for blocking the flow of information through tourism and strictly controlling any interaction between North Koreans and foreigners. While the ostensible establishment of a global tourism zone will likely help North Korea earn foreign currency, the reality is that only a highly limited and regulated form of tourism will be allowed, and tourists can expect a closed environment and curtailed freedom throughout their stay,” Hwang said.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
